Colored dusting powder



Patented Aug. 4, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LYLE B. BURNETT, OF CHICAGO, AND DON W, BISSELL, OF MAYWOOD, ILLINOIS, AS-

SIGNORS TO ILLINOIS No Drawing.

The present invention relates generally to pigments and has particular referenceto a colored dusting powder which may be used to impart to moist surfaces a colored appearance by imposing thereon a thin layer of the colored dust. Ithas particular reference to a dusting powder for tinting green vegetable matter, particularly flowers, by applying the dust thinly to the petals thereof.

In developing a powder which might be dusted onto flowers we have learned that the physical character of the powder is important as well as the quality and brilliance of the color, in order to get the best effects from use of the powder. The powder should be one such that the particles thereof adhere to the flower and not to each other. The colors should be set so that they will not run. The powders should be nonhygroscopic so that they remain dry and dusty. The powder, and especially the color, should be free from poisonous or objectionable impurities, such as lead, barium, antimony and arsenic, which are frequently found in colored pigments.

The present invention aims to produce powders having these desirable characteristics. One objectof the invention is to use a dyestuff, such as an unobjectionable coaltar dye, which can beset or mordanted into an inorganic powder.

, the vehicle, forming a pigment.

Another object is to dilute the colored pigment with a suitable diluent.

The invention includes not only the prodnot but the method of making the same. A mineral substance, either naturally occurring, such as a clay, talc, alumina, chalk, or mineral silicates, or artificially prepared, as by precipitating. insoluble inorganic compounds, such as chalk, carbonates, oxides, or silicates and the like, is employed as a vehicle. The vehicle is suspended in water, and a dyestuff and a mordant are caused to react in the presence of the suspended vehicle, whereby the dyestuif is set to an 1nsoluble form in intimate associationwith The resulting pigment is then washed and dried,

screened. A diluent is employed to make WM. J. STANGE 00., OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF COLORED DUSTING POWDER Application fil'ed August 17, 1929. Serial No. 386,732.

the resulting powder easy-flowing and dusty. In effect it lightens the powder.

It is to be unders'tood that the invention may be practiced in various ways in accordance with current knowledge in the art for producing .diiferent colors, for using differcnt minerals and different diluents. Those who are informed will appreciate that there are several hundred dyestuffs which might be used and that the methods of mordanting the dyes vary in accordance with the class or kind of dye employed. It will therefore be clearly understood that the following examples of the invention are merely illustrative and do not limit the invention to the particular dyes, minerals and diluents, mordants and methods of setting dyes, which are hereinafter disclosed in detail. The invention is therefore to be measured by the scope of the appended claim.

' Of the available mineral vehicles we prefer to usekaolin, or china clay as it is sometimes called, for the reasons that it is of constant quality on the market and because it is cheap. As a diluent we prefer to use potato starch (in grains) as it is more adaptable to the particular purposes for which it is used. However, we do not limit ourselves to potato starch, as we may use other cereal products such as rice starch,

tapioca flour, corn starch, wheat starch or wheat flour. The starchy character of these materials 1s not an essential requirement as wood flour or other light-weight substances might be employed.

]1'wampZe[.In a20-gallon vessel equipped for agitation we dissolve 9 ounces of methyl violet in 15 gallons of water, adding a slight amount of acid, such as 25 cubic, centimeters of glacial acetic acid in case agitation the dye solution is allowed to run moistened, aids in forming a thin crust or slowly into the clay suspension, and mixing is continued for about an hour. The dye is rendered insoluble by the tannic acid and the clay is colored violet. The product is then filtered and Washed with Water, after which it is dried at a temperature less than C. The dried product is then pulverized and mixed with about pounds of potato starch in a revolving drum. The

mixture is then put through ascreen'of mesh and is ready for use.

Ewample H.In a QO-gallon vessel we mix 2 pounds of erythrosine in 15 gallons of water. If lime in the water is excessive so as to interfere with solution of the dye we may add about one-half ounce of soda to prevent precipitation of some of the dye. In a 40-gallon vessel equipped for agitation we suspend 15 pounds of kaolin in 10 gallons of water. The dye solution is then run intothe clay suspension and to the Whole is added 1 pound of aluminum sulphate dissolved in 1 gallons of water- The mass is agitated for about an hour, after which the dyed kaolin is filtered, Washed and dried at a temperature under 80 C. It is then,

pulverized andv diluted with about 100 pounds of potato starch, and the mixture screened through a 150n1esh screen.

In use the dusting powders of this invention maybe used for coloring flowers by subjecting the flower part of the plant to dust-laden air in a confined space, as in a paper bag. The moisture in the flowers causes a thin layer of dust to adhere to the various parts of the flower. It =,is be lieved that the starch grains, being water absorbent take up some moisture from t its place against rubbing or falling away, and that the kaolin, which cakes when skin of the dustingipowder on the petals.

\Ve claim A free-flowing dry dusting powder. for

flowers comprising in combination a base of kaolin, a dyestuff mordanted into the kaolin, and starch grains as a diluent.

In witness whereof we have hereunto affixedour signatures.

' LYLE B. BURNETT.

DON W. BISSELL.

119 flower and more firmly anchor the dust in I 

